HOUSE PLANTS. 83 



taste of the owner. In either of these the pots may be wholly 

 concealed by green moss, or cut paper, so that nothing but the 

 plants themselves may appear. 



Water is as essential to the whole plant as it is to the roots, be- 

 cause they are liable to collect dirt, and thereby to be injured; 

 they should, therefore, be frequently washed over with a syringe 

 having a rose to it, and in order to perform this operation pro- 

 perly, the plants must generally be removed to some other apart- 

 ment where they should remain till they are dry. In winter this 

 operation must be performed in mild weather only ; it should be 

 done in an apartment not colder than that in which the plants 

 usually stand, and the water should be about milk warm. When 

 the plants are in baskets or on tables, they can be removed and 

 washed without deranging their order. Plants which have large 

 and leathery leaves, such as oranges, pittosporums, camellias, and 

 myrtles, may be washed with a sponge, or if very foul they may 

 be washed with soap, and the soap carefully removed by pure 

 water. Loose dust may be removed by a pair of bellows. At- 

 tention to cleanliness greatly increases the vigor of the plant. 



House plants are greatly benefited by being placed out of 

 doors in the summer months, especially during gentle showers . 

 and such as have no other convenience may advantageously place 

 them outside the windows. They may also be syringed and 

 washed in this position, and if the owner is not in possession of 

 one, a common watering-pot, held high, so that the water may 

 fall on the plant with considerable force, is a tolerable substitute. 



Plants respire by their leaves, as animals do by their breathing 

 apparatus, and it is on this account that keeping the leaves clean 

 is so very essential to the health of plants. Indeed, the dust 

 which collects on them, and interrupts their respiration, is one of 

 the greatest evils which can befall plants, especially in rooms and 

 on balconies in towns. The respiring pores are generally large 



